2 Port Motherboard

[phuzaxeman]

Will a two port Motherboard fit a 4 port shell? Was going to try but wanted to ask before trying. Thx

[+Mitch]

Yes, but you may need to drill out a hole for the power cord.

 

Mitch

[+-^CrossBow^-]

What Mitch said. The actual lower shells between the 2 and 4 port are the exact same. The 2 port lower shell even has the cutouts on the front for the missing additional 2 ports. The ONLY difference is that the 2 port case has a square opening next the channel switch for the power cord to plug into. However, if you look at the 4 port shell, you will see an actual square on the case that exactly matches where these openings were put on the 2 port units. Makes me think that the 5200 was always going to use a plug in power port but Atari decided on the initial release to hold off on that idea and instead created the auto switchbox that the power plugs into instead.

 

Then when the 5200 was released, they came back to the original idea and installed the power jack directly on the boards. 

 

Some later made Atari Corp 4 port boards are in 2 port shells and have internal power mods done to them already with the jack installed on the main board.

 

[Henry Lee]

On 9/13/2020 at 5:39 PM, -^CrossBow^- said:

 

Some later made Atari Corp 4 port boards are in 2 port shells and have internal power mods done to them already with the jack installed on the main board.

 

I didn't know 4-ports were made during Atari Corp. Thanks for the info !

[+-^CrossBow^-]

4 minutes ago, Henry Lee said:

 

I didn't know 4-ports were made during Atari Corp. Thanks for the info !

They aren't very common but they do exist. There are threads in these forums with pictures showing them. I've also worked on a few later made Atari Corp units that didn't have the power port attached and still used the switchbox but still came in 2-port lower shells as they had the square opening on the back where the 2-port power plug goes in. Those also have a slightly different layout and revision on their boards. I've never tested, but they likely are using the newer 4-port board design that has the compatibility for the VCS adapter already built in and they weren't stamped with "*" to indicate this as Atari Corp likely didn't know that was being done or didn't care by then.